NEW BLOG

Attention to all my blog readers: I have decided to switch to a different blogging site for this year's summer blog.  If you would like to follow me through all my experiences again, follow this link:

http://markintern.wordpress.com/

Looking forward to another fabulous summer!

Thanks!

mark. PROMO

TOMORROW--Monday, August 9th, mark. is going down in history.  DammmmmDammmmDuuhhhhh!

If you place an order of $50 or more (before tax), you will be given a FREE digital camera!  How awesome is that?  A digital camera?  Really?  How could you not love mark.?

I'll put the promo code up tomorrow, but in the meantime, check out http://eheitker.mymarkstore.com/  to pick out your products and be ready to place your orders!

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21st Birthday!!

Birthday news coming soon!!

Social Management Style Profile

Today we had a workshop to help us "produce better results with others".  In order to do this, we had to first learn about the four social styles that everyone falls into, and then learn how to identify other's styles so that we can communicate better with them.

The four styles are: Analytical, Driver, Amiable, and Expressive.  I will go into further detail about what each of these mean, but so I don't keep you all waiting--I'll share my style--I am across the board an analytical social style.

I'll explain the entire workshop and how this was determined soon, so check back to learn more!

And More Awesome People

Here we are with the FABULOUS Janet Hector.  She is the person we all interviewed with, and who set up the internship program.  She is the sweetest, most genuine, and most caring person.  We all LOVE her!  

So as usual, we snapped a typical mark. picture while she was in the office!

Today, Ted Gibson was also in the office.  He is a famous hairstylist and did Ashley Greene's shoot during her last mark. photo shoot.  Makenzie, Kelsey, Natalie and I snuck in to meet him and grab a picture.  He was so nice and so funny!  We were all just hoping he wasn't looking at our hair and all the split ends!  We wonder what he would have suggested for our own styles. 

Check out his website at: http://www.tedgibsonbeauty.com/meetted.php

Here is the EXCLUSIVE mark. video of Ashley Greene's first shoot.  Take note and watch closely--Ashley is wearing all new mark. products that will release within the next year!  

(Thank you Ted--Ashley's hair looks great!!)

  

Rivet: Creative Agency

Rivet is the Advertising Agency mark. partners with.  The interns were invited to Rivet's office last week to visit and learn what Rivet does in terms of advertising and how they work with mark.  

The executives at Rivet were so nice to show us a peak at an ad campaign that they will be presenting to Claudia soon.  They have such great ideas and new ways to market mark!! We all loved them!  I think if their ideas are approved, mark. can continue to grow and recreate the way they are seen by the public--moving away from the "cutesy" brand and into a trend brand. 

We also got to talk about Rivet's main project--mark.'s Trend Insider.  This is a magazine/catalog piece that is for Reps only, and allows Reps to preview products that will launch in the next month.  I actually got to sit in on a meeting at the mark. office earlier this summer when they reviewed what Rivet was presenting for the Trend Insider #12.  It was so interesting to see the different drafts and how the mark. takes and edits each one.  It was also unbelievable the way everyone took mine, and another intern's opinion in terms of the set up, content, and structure of the Trend Insider.  I mean, after all, we are the ones who read it, but it was so cool to see them really taking our opinions and suggestions seriously.  They want to improve things for Reps, and have done a really good job at  listening to us and working out the kinks and concerns we present.  

Firmenich Fragrance House

Firmenich is the fragrance house that mark. has a partnership with.  It is Firmenich that creates all the fragrance for us!  The interns got to visit this company and explore what our relationship entails!

Look what was waiting for us after we arrived!  Tons of mini cupcakes!

Firmenich is a family owned company, that has been passed down five generations since 1895.  One year, they were awarded the Nobel Prize in musk research!  Pretty awesome!!

In order to "nurture the passion of fragrance," Firmenich has created a fragrance website called OsMoz.com. Check it out!  It is packed with tons of information about fragrances and scents and how they come together to create a finished product.  They even sell perfuming sets, so people can learn to educate themselves.  I thought about purchasing one of these kits--they look so cool!  

Firmenich has 80 perfumers worldwide.  A perfumer is like a chef--but one who adds and plays with molecules instead of ingredients.   A typical perfume has about 100 different ingredients.  30 is considered very few, while 600 is considered excessive--making a perfume requires tons of patience to add all these ingredients. 

I thought it was pretty interesting that Harry Fremont (a perfumer who works for Firmenich) was the creator of Viva La Juicy, Vera Wang Princess, and mark.'s Jewel.  (These are all favorites of mine!  Thank you Harry!)  These are all oriental fragrances.

We even had the opportunity to meet the perfumer who created mark.'s Rio Instant Vacation line.  Gil Clavien, sat with us and let us smell the different versions of Rio Rhythms that she created and presented to mark.  It was so cool to smell how the scent changed.  It started as a very green fragrance, but by adding apple, Rio Rhythms changed into a fresher frag!  Perfection.  Gil also sat with us and let us smell different scents in all of the different fragrance families.  The families or categories are: floral, woody, oriental, chypre, and citrus.  By smelling these, we were beginning our fragrance training.

These were the scent cards we got to smell! Tons of them right?!

Here are other fragrances Firmenich has created:

Here are some facts that I thought were pretty cool:

The top US Feminine Fragrances in the Market in 2009 were:

Coco Madenoiselle (Chypre)

Beautiful (Floral)

Light Blue (Woody)

Chanel No 5 (Floral)

Cashmere Mist (Oriental)

Pleasures (Floral)

Viva La Juicy (Oriental)

Ed Hardy (Floral)

Happy (Floral)

Sensuous (Woody)

The top fragrances in:

2005 were Floral...in

2006 were Woody...in

2007 were Oriental...in

2008 were Chypre...in

2009 were Citrus

As we left Firmenich, we were given a sample bottle of the newest mark. fragrance that will launch soon.  It is called Celebrate and is BY FAR my favorite mark. fragrance yet.  I can't wait for it to be available so I can buy a full size of my own!

After this field trip, I seriously considered becoming a perfumer!  It was so cool to hear from Firmenich and how they work with mark.  I was one of my favorite field trips yet!

To Busy to Write?

I think I am very behind.  I have lots to write about.  Maybe tomorrow night!  Stay tuned!

mark. meets the magazines!

Today was a jam packed with magazines!  Teen Vogue and Marie Claire!  To start off our day, we got to meet the EDITOR OF TEEN VOGUE--Eva Chen!  Here are the interns with Eva.

Eva was absolutely hilarious.  She was so real--one of those people that you want to listen to for hours--one of those people who you want to be friends with.  Eva's main mission at Teen Vogue is to bring fashion and beauty and health issues out in a fun way for teens.  She was excited to share that TV has over 1.3 million subscribers. A few years ago, I was an avid Teen Vogue reader, so it was so cool to meet her!

Eva always thought she wanted to be a doctor--or should I say, Eva's parents always thought she would be a doctor.  She attended undergrad at Johns Hopkins University for pre-med.  Every summer since she could remember, she was finding jobs in hospitals and other medical facilities.  Going into her senior year, however; she wanted something different.  Eva decided to send her resume out to different companies and really give herself a chance to find her true passion.   

Eva earned an internship with Harpers Bazaar (a magazine company).  Her first assignment was to clean out a product closet and was allowed to keep whatever products she wanted.  She said she left work that first day with at least six bags full of products.  This was her first introduction to the beauty world, and she found it fascinating.  There was something about it that caught her interest.  When she told her parents the new passion she had, they were disappointed, but interested in where she wanted to go with this idea.  She told her parents--magazines!

After graduation, Eva did not find a job at a magazine as she planned, so she settled for a job at a law firm.  Even though she hated every minute of the six months she worked there, Eva was glad that she was able to learn more about the company.  She told us, "When you do things you don't like, it's a learning experience.  After you tried it, you can cross it off your list."  

While at the law firm, she took the time to get to know her coworkers.  She left such a large impression on one coworker, that the friendship ended up helping her find her next job.  The coworker referred her name to a friend who worked at Lucky Magazine, who was actually in need of a personal assistant in the fashion department.   She took this job and made it her mission to learn from the small things--like making copies and answering phone calls.  Her hard work allowed her to move onto a position at Elle, which then led to Teen Vogue.  

Eva's message to us, "Your reputation perceives you.  It's a small world, so be nice to everyone."  She also advised, "Don't concentrate on what you are doing, but what your boss is doing.  If you love what they do, you found what you want."

Now the fun part--we quizzed Eva on her Hollywood experience.  She said the most legitimate tabloids are People and Us Weekly.  

One of her favorite celebrities is Blake Lively.  

She said Blake on Gossip Girl is is exactly how she in real life. 

 

She also loves the Twilight cast.  Eva said they were awesome and so much fun to work with--but she soon added--with the exception of Kristen Stewart.  (We don't know what that means!)

She also said that Justin Timberlake was one of the most serious celebrities she has ever met.  

We were all shocked!  And a Justin secret--he isn't a fan of Justin Bieber.

When Eva got to meet Lady Gaga, she said it was the strangest (but totally awesome) experience.  She said that Gaga spoke in third person throughout the entire interview and sat and moved like she was a string puppet.  Should we expect anything less bazaar from Gaga?

Eva said that Beyonce without makeup looks ten years old.  

Her waist is super tiny, and she is the sweetest celebrity. 

And lastly, Eva spoke about The Hills and Lauren Conrad.  She said Lauren is one of the few celebrities that is in person, the exact person you see on TV.  She is one of those people who you want to be her best friend after the first meeting.  Eva also said that Lo and Whitney were dolls.  (And that Whitney is about ten feet tall!)  Eva saw more California in Whitney, but was finally starting to see some NY shine through. (For those of you who don't follow The Hills, Whitney moved from the reality show The Hills, which took place in Cali, to her own show called The City, which takes place in NY.)  Speaking of The City, despite what everyone thinks, Eva said that Erin, who works at Elle with Olivia, is really super nice.  TV just portrays her to be a bit feistier.  And Olivia--she is actually really quiet and nice.  She is pursuing a career in acting, so maybe she is using The City as a way to practice, Eva suggested!  

A funny story Eva shared was, that one day she ran into Lauren Conrad shopping at Whole Foods.  They started talking and a few minutes later, Stephen Colletti passed by.  And just their luck, Stephen was with his new girlfriend.  At this point Lauren was completely past loving Stephen, but still, Eva couldn't describe this situation as anything but AWKWARD! 

Just for old times sake, here is a picture of the old couple.

Eva was so much fun!  She was so nice, she even gave us her email to keep in contact with her!  I plan on emailing her soon--to stay in touch with this TEEN VOGUE star!

After meeting with Eva Chen, we took a field trip to the Hearst Tower--The Magazine Building!  Here is some information about the building and then some pictures I took.  We had a special tour of the building and then special time with Marie Claire. . .

"Hearst Tower in New York City, New York is located at 300 West 57th Street on Eighth Avenue, near Columbus Circle. It is the world headquarters of the Hearst Corporation, bringing together for the first time their numerous publications and communications companies under one roof, including Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, Marie Claire, and the San Francisco Chronicle, to name a few.

The former six-story headquarters building was commissioned by the founder, William Randolph Hearst and awarded to the architect Joseph Urban. The building was completed in 1928 at a cost of $2 million and contained 40,000 sq. ft. The original cast stone facade has been preserved in the new design as a designated Landmark site. Originally built as the base for a proposed skyscraper, the construction of the tower was postponed due to the Great Depression. The new tower addition was completed nearly eighty years later, and 2000 Hearst employees moved in on May 4, 2006.

The tower – designed by the architect Norman Foster and constructed by Turner construction – is 46 stories tall, standing 597 feet with 856,000 ft² of office space. The uncommon triangular framing pattern (also known as a diagrid) required 10,480 tons of structural steel – reportedly about 20% less than a conventional steel frame. Hearst Tower was the first skyscraper to break ground in New York City after September 11, 2001. The building received the 2006 Emporis Skyscraper Award, citing it as the best skyscraper in the world completed that year.

Hearst Tower is the first green building completed in New York City, with a number of environmental considerations built into the plan. The floor of the atrium is paved with heat conductive limestone. Polyethylene tubing is embedded under the floor and filled with circulating water for cooling in the summer and heating in the winter. Rain collected on the roof is stored in a tank in the basement for use in the cooling system, to irrigate plants and for the water sculpture in the main lobby. The building was constructed using 80% recycled steel. Overall, the building has been designed to use 25% less energy than the minimum requirements for the city of New York, and earned a gold designation from the United States Green Building Council’s LEED certification program.

 

The atrium features escalators which run through a 3-story water sculpture titled Icefall, a wide waterfall built with thousands of glass panels, which cools and humidifies the lobby air. The water element is complemented by a 70-foot (21.3 m) tall fresco painting entitled Riverlines by artist Richard Long.

The world's largest finger paint project.  All completed by one set of hands!

Good Houskeeping!

Kitchen Test Area

Beauty Test Area

Dining area where all but two Presidents of the US have ate.  

The view from the top floor!

        

Marie Claire

Who doesn't love Crumbs--especially when they are mark.ized!

And the gifts!

"The Style Strategy" Nina Garcia

Meredith Kahn partners with mark.

Another designer--Meredith Kahn!  

Check out Meredith's collection at: http://www.madeherthink.com/

A fun fact about how Meredith named her line--she created an anagram.  An anagram is a type of word play.  It's the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters.  Using the letters from "Meredith Kahn", she created the new phrase, "Made Her Think". Pretty clever right?  Try it out for yourself! 

Meredith advised us, "Be patient and be sure."  She also said that the inspiration for her line comes from the fact that women aren't soft and delicate as they used to be.  She said, "Dudes love their chicks in something rough!"  She has a very edgy line--but so trendy!

Meredith's collection with mark. will launch during the holiday season. All of the interns got to see her collection already.  Her jewelry is amazing!